Category: Australia

Dubbed a “national emergency” by the Australian Medical Association (AMA) in August, 2015, codeine pain killer abuse and overdose continues to capture Australian news headlines.

Last week, Australian hip-hop recording artist, Matt Colwell, aka “360” made headlines after releasing a rap video recorded in what appears to be a home studio, in which he explains his personal battle with prescription painkiller addiction.

The video, which has been viewed more than 7.25 million times, and shared nearly 200,000 times since 360 posted it on his Facebook page on January 9, 2016 at 2:05pm, has prompted renewed calls for stricter regulations around the use of codeine-containing medications.

In his song, entitled “I’m Sorry,” 360 describes the severity of his addiction, stating he was taking 90 pills, or three packets of over-the-counter medication, Nurofen Plus, on a daily basis.

“If I had nine lives then I’m using them up, no-one knew my addiction it was stupid as f***. 

“Ninety pills daily of Nurofen Plus…” 

He even went so far as to acknowledge an overdose, which caused him to cancel a series of shows in January, 2015.

“I was a zombie, I couldn’t feel nothing. I smashed four packets because I just wanted to feel something. 

“Yo, I overdosed for sure, I was at the venue, I was going to perform, 

“I can’t remember, see I was told in a report my tour manager found me convulsing on the floor…”

360 isn’t the first celebrity to bring Australia’s dependence on opioids into the spotlight.

Last year, Kim Ledger, father to the late Oscar award-winning actor, Heath Ledger, who died from an overdose of six-different prescription medications in August 2008, delivered a keynote presentation on behalf of the not-for-profit organisation, Scriptwise, for whom he is Patron, explaining prescription medication misuse, and abuse is out of control in Australia.

His organisation, along with various other Australian entities, called for the introduction of a real-time prescription monitoring service involving GPs and pharmacists to help tackle the growing public health epidemic.

However, as 360 states in his rap, “That’s the thing with a codeine addiction, it’s over the counter, so you don’t need prescriptions.”

According to an ABC News article published Monday, January 11, 2016 Australia is one of the few countries in the Western world that still permits codeine-containing medications to be sold over-the-counter, despite continued calls from many quarters that the substance be reclassified as prescription only.

Further to this, Australia has seen a recent surge in the use of heroin – a drug that had a strong grip on the nation during the 1990s.

The Australian Drug Foundation argues that more Australians are becoming addicted to painkillers, and when addicted “users” are unable to get their “fix” due to doctor and/or pharmacy shopping failures, they often switch to cheaper and more accessible street drugs, such as heroin.

If you, or someone you know and/or love, is battling an addiction to codeine pain killers and need help or wish to learn more, please contact DARA Thailand on +66 87 140 7788 or email info@dararehab.com.

According to recent media reports, 2015 saw a spike in drug-induced harm at Australian music festivals, including 120 people who were treated for drug-related issues, and the passing of Sydney pharmacist, Sylvia Choi, 25 at Stereosonic. These events have served to fuel the debate on pill testing at music festivals.

Pill testing, which indicates the content of an illegal drug in a user’s system, is currently practised widely throughout Europe, in countries such as The Netherlands, Switzerland, Austria, Germany, Spain and France.

Australian Drug Foundation National Policy Manager, Mr Geoff Munro told SBS News on December 7, 2015 that Australia urgently requires a pill testing trial to help curb the spiralling incidence of drug-induced harm.

“We have to recognise there is a culture of drug taking at music festivals and this would target the people who are determined to take the drugs.”

The results of the 2013 National Council on Drugs Survey, flagged in a report by popular the National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre,  revealed more than 82 per cent of the 2,300 young Aussies aged between 16 and 25 surveyed support pill testing.

However the argument has met fierce debate from politicians and health experts who maintain this approach to drug prevention simply increases the risk of drug-induced harm, as festival goers will participate in unsupervised gatherings to avoid being policed, resulting in more fatalities.

Currently police forces in South Australia and New South Wales will not support pill testing at music festivals, with Forensic Toxicologist and Safework Laboratories Marketing Director, Mr Andrew Leibie, informing SBS that pill testing, will not detect illicit drugs.

“On-site pill testing is impractical and unlikely to have any meaningful impact, or prevent the kinds of tragic deaths we have seen in recent weeks,” said Mr Leibie.

With the advent of the New Year and many music festivals to come, the debate regarding whether “to test, or not to test” pills will continue to escalate. In the interim, we pray that the implementation of any drug abuse prevention strategy will help to curb the number of senseless deaths at musical festivals and the like.

 

In response to the current spate of drug-related deaths and the alarming growth of the nation’s crystal methylamphetamine, or ‘ice’ epidemic, the Australian government has awarded more than $300 million to reduce the abuse and harm of illicit drugs.

An unclassified report investigating methylamphetamine (‘meth’) in Australia by the Australian Crime Commission (ACC) found of all illicit drugs, ice is currently the most dominant form of meth and therefore, poses the highest risk to the Australian community. [1] In addition, the National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre discovered Australian deaths caused by injecting ice have increased by 52 per cent in the past decade. [2]

The rampant nature and scale of ice addiction in Australia, begs the question, what is the solution to this tragic epidemic?

Following the recent drug-induced death of 25 year-old, Sydney pharmacist, Sylvia Choi and a 19-year-old man, Stefan Woodward, both of whom took illicit drugs at local music festivals, the Federal Government has announced it will allocate more than $300 million to battle the ice epidemic threatening the lives of Australians.

This grant comes shortly after the Government awarded the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) more than $1 million to conduct Australia’s largest clinical trial of medical treatment for “ice” addiction to date.

In an interview reported by ABC News, the Australian Prime Minister, The Hon. Malcolm Turnbull MP, cited “The responsibility for tackling this very complex problem can’t be left to the police alone.” [3]

Turnbull explained arresting addicts is not enough, and claimed the funding would be allocated to primary health networks.

“We believe that the medical and healthcare professionals who are closest to the people in need, are best able to determine how the money is spent.”

In an opinion piece published by The Border Mail, Sydney lawyer, Tim Dick claimed the Australian imprisonment rate had doubled in the past 30 years and there are currently 196 people in full-time custody for every 100,000 adult Australians. [4]

The government has recognised an integrated approach must be implemented, focusing on the treatment, intervention and prevention of harm as the main way to reduce drug addiction, rather than investing in the policing of addicts. [5]

In terms of how to solve the raging debate involving the ice epidemic gripping Australia, there may be no single solution. Goverment measures and heightened community awareness however, should help make substantial in-roads into curbing this social scourge.

 

[1] Australian Crime Commission 2015, ‘The Australian Methylamphetamine Market – The National Picture,’ vol.1, no.1, p.5, https://www.crimecommission.gov.au/sites/default/files/AUS-METH-%20MARKET-%20200315%20FINAL.pdf, accessed December 11, 2015

[2] Downey, M 2015, National Drug & Alcohol Research Centre, ‘Methamphetamine deaths increase across Australia and ice use jumps by 52 per cent among people who inject drugs,’ , accessed December 11, 2015.

[3] Fogarty, S 2015, ‘Prime Minister announces $300m strategy to tackle ice addiction,’ ABC News, online, available at: , accessed December 11, 2015.

[4] Dick, T 2015, ‘Drug fight needs to focus on intervention,’ International Business Times, available at: , accessed on December 11, 2015.

[5] Acosta, D 2015, ‘Government allocates more than $300 million to combat ice addiction,’ International Business Times, available at: , accessed on December 11, 2015.